Weddingbee boards

My budget was also $1,000 and I was able to find three dresses that I liked at Total Wedding inside of the Schaumburg store.

Search now, but purchase in October-November, when the gown season is in its low season. I got my gown on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) with a discount!

I recommend going to the high end shops and trying on whatever you like. Take pictures of the ones you like (if you can) and then start scouring Ebay. I found my 6k Amsale dress for $300. I was open to a few of the dresses I tried on and liked though, so it might be harder if you are looking for "the one".

Hi there!  I'm a teeny tiny budget bride too.  My dress allowence was even smaller than yours, but I still found something suitable.  I deff think you should try to buy online, either from a discounted place like www.houseofbrides.com or www.bestbridalprices.com, or preowned, like www.preownedweddingdresses.com or www.oncewed.com.

I do have a little advice though.  Don't go try on designer dresses in a boutique.  I started out doing that, BIG MISTAKE, just to see what I looked good in/liked, and ended up falling really hard for a dress that was WAY out of the budget.  It's really stressful to try on and adore expensive dresses that fit perfectly, and have beautiful, fabulous fabric and details that you just can't have.  For me, it equaled a lot of frusturation and tears.  Honestly, nothing feels the same after trying on uber-expensive gowns.  Just a tip from someone whose been there.

Otherwise, good luck, and you can find a super lovely, maybe-even-designer dress for 1k!  Hope to hear what you pick!

Hi Sweetestday,

I live in Chicago and I've been to eight different stores (sometimes visited a store two or three times!) and tried on over 50 dresses. Whew!  So here are a few things I learned along the way...

-Search the internet and magazines for pictures or any style of dress you particurlarly like or think.  Collect those images so when you actually do visit a store, they can get a sense of what you're looking for.

-When you do go to a store, they will ask you what your budget is and will bring out dresses in your style in that price range.  Like a previous commenter, Eva's Bridal in Oak Lawn does have a HUGE selection at many different price points.  They even have a "store" next door to their actual store that houses some "as is" dresses.  You'll have to go through the racks but some of those dresses were incredibly inexpensive!

Try:

-WhiteChicago.  If you want designer dresses for less than designer prices.  These are consigned dresses.  You may want to call ahead of time to see if they have any dresses around $1000.  It all depends on the inventory they have at the particular time, since its always changing.

-The Bride's Room in Wheeling also has some good deals.

-David's Bridal - you can find some chic dresses there at great prices.

-Preownedweddingdresses and OnceWed are great sites to browse through as well not only for the prices but to see how dresses fit on real people.

hope this helps!  Good luck!

If you want to save money, I always recommend Alfred Angelo dresses!  You can get a beautiful, high quality gown from an Alfred Angelo boutique for under $500!  I am from PA, so I am not sure if there are any Alfred Angelo stores near you, but if at all possible, get your dress straight from your designer! Small bridal shops want to make a profit and will sometimes charge double what you will pay for at the designer's store.  I got my dress from one of the boutiques, and I received great customer service, REALLY quick delivery of my dress (5 weeks for a wedding gown to come in!), and a ton of compliments on the dress at our wedding!  And, what is nice about going to the designer instead of a small boutique - they have a lot of different sizes to try on, which will save you money on alterations!!  I was not a fan of David's Bridal at all, but Alfred Angelo was really great - especially for brides on a budget!!